Scrumptious Salads

Salads are foods that cater to your health as well as your tastebuds. They are the most appealing and colourful part of your meal. Eating a salad everyday is considered as one of the most healthiest and simplest habits one can adopt.

Typically, a salad is a dish consisting of small pieces of foods such as fruits,vegetables, grains, cooked meat, egg and cheese which may be mixed with a salad dressing and is served cold.

Types of salads:

1) GREEN SALAD: a green salad or garden salad is composed of leafy vegetables such as lettuce varieties, spinach and arugula. Due to their low caloric density, they are commonly considered as appetisers and are often garnished with nuts and croutons.

2) VEGETABLE SALAD: vegetables other than greens are added to make such salads. Vegetables that can be incorporated into this salad are onions, cucumbers, carrots, spring onions, radishes, mushrooms, bell peppers,etc.

3) BOUND SALAD: a bound salad can be arranged or put in a bowl and mixed with a thick dressing. They are assembled with thick sauces such as mayonnaise. They are often used as sandwich fillings and examples of this salad include potato salad, egg salad, tuna salad, etc.

4) MAIN COURSE SALAD: they are also known as dinner salads and may contain grilled or fried chicken pieces, shrimps or a fish steak such as tuna and salmon. Caesar salad, greek salad, Michigan salad and Chinese chicken salad are a few such dinner salads.

5) FRUIT SALAD: they are made of a variety of fruits such as apple, banana, pomegranate, orange, guava, etc and include the fruit cocktail that can be made fresh or from canned fruit.

6) DESERT SALAD: they are often sweet and are made of gelatin and whipped cream. Examples include jello salad, pistachio salad, cookie salad and snickers salad.

A bowl full of salad is a power packed, nutrient rich meal. The greens alone are a rich source of iron, potassium and B vitamins and foods such as tomatoes and peppers are abundant in antioxidants. Salads composed from even a few ingredients can provide numerous benefits.

Here are a few:

Benefits of eating a salad:

1) Vegetables in salads are a good source of insoluble fibre that help in maintaining a healthy digestive tract and prevent constipation. Eating fibre can help you feel fuller, eat less and ultimately lose weight.

2) A recent study from the National Cancer Institute suggests that people whose diets are rich in fruits and vegetables may have a lower risk of developing cancers of the head and neck. Thus by incorporating loads of fruits and vegetables in your salads, you can reduce the risk of many diseases particularly ,cancer.

3) Many salad ingredients contain vitamin A and vitamin C in the form of antioxidant carotenoids. Vegetables that are rich in antioxidants include tomatoes, bell peppers and broccoli.

4) Eat salads to increase satisfaction and lose weight. Studies show that eating a low-calorie first course, like a green salad of 150 calories or less, enhances satiety and reduces the total number of calories eaten during the meal.